Even the journey of a thousand miles
by smaragdbird
Summary: Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over. - Octavia Butler Slash


"Draco this has to stop." Theo took the damp cloth from the water bowl and held it carefully against Draco's split lip. Draco winced slightly which made the other bruises on his face look worse.

"I can't come by every time he hits you. I could as well move in."

"It's not that bad." Draco argued: "I just need to go to work tomorrow." But he didn't meet Theo's eyes.

"So on the days I'm not here you're not going to work?" Theo asked sarcastically.

"Very funny." Draco rolled his eyes but winced again when the sneer he tried to show pulled at his split lip. Theo stood up:

"I'm not doing this anymore. Next time you can patch you up yourself."

"You say that every time."

"I mean it this time. You need help, Draco. All you need to do is walk out of that door. Why are you staying?"

"You never asked me that before."

"I'm asking you now."

"I'm Draco Malfoy, fallen from grace, practically the devil's son. Do you really think anyone else would have me?" Theo had to admit to himself that Draco had a point here but he wasn't going to give in.

"You could leave Britain. There are enough places in the world where your name means nothing."

"Running away." Draco sneered: "Doing what they're all expecting me to do."

"Something is very wrong with your priorities." Theo told him and left. You couldn't help someone who didn't want to be helped.

It had been a quiet day. Being healer for the Irish National Quidditch Team wasn't what Theo had had in mind when he had chosen this profession but it wasn't bad. His colleague from the Russian Team had far more outrageous and horrible stories to tell.

When he heard steps, Theo didn't look up. Usually one of the players or crewmembers came to drag him with the rest to a pub to celebrate the survival of another day.

"Hey, Theo:" But it wasn't one of his colleagues. It was Draco who leaned against the doorframe while wrapping his arms around his upper body as if would fall off if he let go and his reopened lip dropped blood onto his coat.

"Who let you in?" Theo asked neutrally. It had to be bad if Draco dragged himself here after Theo had ignored everything else Draco had tried to get in contact with him again after the last time.

"Finnigan." Of course, Seamus Finnigan worked as security for the team and he knew that Draco and Theo were friends, after all Draco had been here before.

"What is it, Draco?"

"Can I sleep on your couch?" This made Theo look up at Draco properly.

"How long?"

"until I sorted everything out, so a few weeks maybe."

"Sure." Theo offered a smile: "Glad you finally saw reality."

For days Theo waited for the other shoe to drop. He expected that either Draco would leave again or that Blaise would turn up and plea for Draco to come back.

Neither happened.

Draco didn't speak about what had happened between him and Blaise but as the days ticked by it became clearer and clearer that this time Draco and Blaise had broken up for good.

Theo had become used to living alone in the two years since Hogwarts but after sharing a dorm room with Draco for seven years he also became easily used to not living alone anymore.

"I found a new job." Draco told him one night over dinner. For his lack of experience Draco was a quite decent cook, at any rate years better than Theo who had lived on takeout.

"Do you even need a job?" Theo teased him.

"You want me to wait for you at home like a trophy wife?"

"You'd make a good trophy wife -"

"Really?" Draco interrupted him with an ironic smile playing around his lips.

"- but it's not like I need one." Theo finished.

"I bet Finnigan thinks I'm your trophy wife."

"Seamus is my friend. Quit baiting him every time you come by. Life's not a boarding school, you know?"

"You're telling me." Draco muttered and stole a potato from Theo's plate. Theo rolled his eyes at that and made a mocking slap in Draco's direction. Draco drew in a sharp breath and tensed up as if waiting for the next hit. Two, three seconds passed, then he relaxed again:

"Sorry." He murmured without looking at Theo.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Theo told him: "Draco, it's okay. It's over."

"I'm going to need some time to get used to that." Draco admitted.

"You can stay here as long as you want." Theo said sincerely and Draco gave him a small, but sincere smile in return:

"Thanks."


End file.
